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Boston Jews Petition for First Cemetery
Boston Jews Petition for First Cemetery
On this day in 1844, members of Boston's first Jewish congregation petitioned city officials to set aside a corner of an East Boston cemetery for their use. When the city refused, the 40 congregants of...
Marblehead Carved Out of Salem
Marblehead Carved Out of Salem
On this day in 1635, the General Court of Massachusetts Bay established the town of Marblehead on land that belonged to Salem. The move was meant to punish Salem for allowing Roger Williams to express...
Thousands Walk Across Zakim-Bunker Hill Bridge
Thousands Walk Across Zakim-Bunker Hill Bridge
On this day in 2002, more than 200,000 people celebrated Mother's Day by walking across the Leonard P. Zakim-Bunker Hill Bridge, months before it was open to cars. Built as part of the country's most...
Massachusetts Bay Colony Bans Catholic Priests
Massachusetts Bay Colony Bans Catholic Priests
On this day in 1647, Massachusetts Bay banned Jesuit priests from the colony on penalty of death. The English Puritans who settled the colony feared the Jesuits for several reasons. First, simply because they were...
Christian Scientists Dedicate Mother Church
Christian Scientists Dedicate Mother Church
On this day in 1906, the recently enlarged Mother Church of Christian Science was dedicated in Boston. The original building seated only 1,000 people, and the church's growing popularity created the need for more space....
Firemen and Irish Clash in Boston Riot
Firemen and Irish Clash in Boston Riot
On this day in 1837, an Irish funeral procession and a company of Yankee volunteer firefighters came face-to-face in the streets of Boston. Over the next few hours, the two groups and their supporters fought...
William Pynchon Buys Land for Springfield
William Pynchon Buys Land for Springfield
On this day in 1636, William Pynchon received the deed giving him title to most of what is now Springfield, Longmeadow, and Agawam. In exchange, he paid the local Agawam Indians 18 fathoms of wampum,...
Charlestown Convent Lies in Ruins
Charlestown Convent Lies in Ruins
On this day in 1834, the Ursuline Convent in Charlestown lay in ruins. The night before, a Protestant mob sacked it and burned it to the ground. The nuns who lived in the elegant building...
Brandeis University Receives Phi Beta Kappa Charter
Brandeis University Receives Phi Beta Kappa Charter
On this day in 1961, Brandeis University received good news. Less than a decade after accepting its first students, the school had been given approval to start a chapter of the prestigious national honor society,...
Roger Williams Banished
Roger Williams Banished
On this day in 1635, Puritan minister Roger Williams was found guilty of spreading "newe & dangerous opinions" and banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Before leaving England in 1630, Williams had seen heretics whipped,...